Album Song Stories: Lay It On The Line

Post number six of song stories from ‘Beauty Survives’ is the song Lay It On The Line.

I think I mentioned in one of the other posts that I took myself off to Spain to finish writing.  It was 2013, I visited a friend’s apartment in Murcia.  I’ll talk more about it later as well since it was where I also wrote the title track of the album.  I was recovering from major surgery and I also not very well in general at the time.  This song started with me writing the lyrics from its opening lines (the song starts with the chorus)

Every first step is the hardest

It started with my personal feeling of not knowing what to do next, what move to make, career-wise, personally, all those types of thoughts.  And I knew in my mind that it gets easier, it’s just making those first moves in a new direction, new territory.  I spoke to quite a few people while I was away and they confirmed my belief in the value of kindness, of the human condition being ultimately good when treated in return with respect and kindness.  Initially taking myself off to Spain for time away felt a bit selfish, but as I’ve heard from so many people, you can’t give what you haven’t got.  You need to look after your own wellbeing, you are better for others then.  I feel so much of our modern world tells us that burning out and working the candle at both ends is something to be proud of and this just didn’t sit well with me.  Same for matters of the heart, if I’m doing something that feels right for me first I can better serve other people; whether that’s in teaching, in performing, in personal life.  I particularly remember speaking to a friend who was going through a hard time travelling for work when his father was extremely ill.  It looked to the world like he was having the time of his life, but in reality, he wanted someone to confide in, someone who was his world, who could support him when the going gets tough and not have to worry about being let down.  Being vulnerable is something some people find very easy and I was really envious of couples who had that solidarity and I think he was too.  But, in speaking to him, I won’t name him here(!) I realised his heart was so genuine and he was ready for love, real love, the forever kind of love.  It helped me write the line “hearts are beautiful if you serve your soul”.  And that essentially meant you can help and love another person if you do what’s right for you first, sort of like putting on your own mask before you help others.  So, it evolved into a song about a couple bringing together all their past experiences, putting the cards on the table and saying I want to know everything about you; past, present and future and quoting the song – “every time you felt like giving up” and “if you lost your pride, were you satisfied you gave it everything you got”.  The meaning of the song as a whole is that when you bare all and are vulnerable when you give yourself to someone else completely and honestly, lay everything out, the good, the bad and the ugly(!) you serve yourself in the process and you hopefully get the same support in return.

Lay it out, I think we’ll make it 

Naturally after I’d written it down, it felt like it should be a duet.  And when I put the demo down I hadn’t mentioned this, but Scott also said I know someone who would sound great if you made this a duet!  So, it was recorded like that and we got the wonderful voice of Steve Overland from the rock band FM to lay down the male vocals.  I have to say Steve was such a pleasure to work with, not just an amazing professional, but he just came in the studio and nailed the feeling I wanted straight away, put his own style into it and we got it done really quickly.  See the lyrics below

Chorus:

Every first step is the hardest

I want to make it right this time

Every mistake, every heartbreak

I want to lay it on the line

Verse 1:

Every time you felt like giving up

When it gets hard you forget how to love

And if you lost your pride, were you satisfied

You gave it everything you got

Verse 2:

I’ve been bruised and I’ve been shaken

Couldn’t bring myself to face it

But hearts are beautiful if you serve your soul

Lay it out I think we’ll make it

Chorus:

Every first step is the hardest

I want to make it right this time

Every mistake, every heartbreak

I want to lay it on the line

Woah…….ooo.

The endings in fairytales, they never turned out painful

We’ll walk the line, I’ll take your hand if you take mine.

 

Hearts are beautiful if you serve your soul

Lay it out I think we’ll make it

Chorus:

Every first step is the hardest

I want to make it right this time

Every mistake, every heartbreak

I want to lay it on the line, tonight.

Woah…….ooo.

Every first step is the hardest

I want to make it right this time

Every mistake, every heartbreak

I want to lay it on the line, tonight.

 

Check out the song on the media or shop page of my website here. And follow the link below to spotify.

Listen on Spotify

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